By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including sections 3301 and
3302 of title 5, United States Code, and in order to provide for the
recruitment and selection of exceptional employees for careers in the
public sector, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. There is hereby constituted the Federal Career Intern
Program (Program). The purpose of the Program is to attract exceptional
men and women to the Federal workforce who have diverse professional
experiences, academic training, and competencies, and to prepare them
for careers in analyzing and implementing public programs. "Career
Intern" is a generic term, and agencies may use occupational titles as
appropriate.

Sec. 2. The Program is another step in the Administration's effort
to recruit the highest caliber people to the Federal Government, develop
their professional abilities, and retain them in Federal-departments
and agencies. Cabinet secretaries and agency administrators should view
the Program as complementary to existing programs that provide career
enhancement opportunities for Federal employees, and departments and
agencies are encouraged to identify and make use of those programs, as
well as the new Program, to meet department and agency needs.

Sec. 3. (a) The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shall develop
appropriate merit-based procedures for the recruitment, screening,
placement, and continuing career development of Career Interns.

(b) In developing those procedures, the OPM shall provide for such
actions as deemed appropriate to assure equal employment opportunity and
the application of appropriate veterans' preference criteria.

Sec. 4. (a) A successful candidate shall be appointed to a
position in Schedule B of the excepted service at the GS-5, 7, or 9 (and
equivalent) or other trainee level appropriate for the Program, unless
otherwise approved by the OPM. The appointment shall not exceed 2 years
unless extended by the Federal department or agency, with the
concurrence of the OPM, for up to 1 additional year.

(b) Tenure for a Career Intern shall be governed by the
following principles and policies:
(1) Assigned responsibilities shall be consistent with a
Career Intern's competencies and career interests, and
the purposes of the Program.
(2) Continuation in the Program shall be contingent upon
satisfactory performance by the Career Intern throughout
the internship period.
(3) Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this
section, service as a Career Intern confers no rights to
further Federal employment in either the competitive or
excepted service upon the expiration of the internship
period.
(4) Competitive civil service status may be granted to a
Career Intern who satisfactorily completes the internship
and meets all other requirements prescribed by the OPM.
(5) Within an agency, an employee who formerly held a career
or career-conditional appointment immediately before
entering the Career Intern Program, and who fails to
complete the Career Intern Program for reasons unrelated
to misconduct or suitability, shall be placed in a career
or career-conditional position in the current agency at
no lower grade or pay than the one the employee left to
accept the position in the Career Intern Program.
Sec. 5. A Career Intern shall participate in a formal program of

training and job assignments to develop competencies that the OPM
identifies as core to the Program, and the employing agency identifies
as appropriate to the agency's mission and needs.

Sec. 6. The OPM shall prescribe such regulations as it determines
necessary to carry out the purpose of this order.

Sec. 7. The OPM shall provide oversight of the Program.

Sec. 8. Executive Order 12596 of May 7, 1987, is revoked.

Sec. 9. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve
the internal management of the executive branch. It does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable in law or
equity, by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers
or employees, or any other person.